Coffee, Catalyst, and a Hot Take
Thursday morning. Catalyst Building. Omaha’s shiny new baby in the Edge District. I’m clutching my caramel mocha from The Grove like it’s a life preserver, waiting for the UNeMed’s Morning Edition to kick off, when I spot Scott Henderson — Managing Principal of NMotion powered by gener8tor, Omaha’s most punk rock startup accelerator.
I’m here to get a hot take from Scott, because apparently this is my new thing now: “Most people think X about Omaha’s startup scene, but this leader knows Y.” And honestly, Scott delivered.
Scott Henderson
You know the stereotype: Midwest founders are allergic to bragging. We’d rather “just do the work” and hope someone notices. Spoiler: in the startup world, no one notices unless you tell them. Loudly. And repeatedly.
Scott knows this all too well.
“We live in this binary of ‘hate this, love this, nothing’s in the middle,’” he told me as we sat in the Catalyst’s big atrium, once Michael Dixon let us in with his badge. (Evidently, my UNeTech credentials are still pending.) “Venture capital requires hype because it’s all about valuation, raising that round, and the progress. Nobody’s asking, ‘What’s the social positive impact?’ — it’s, ‘Can you sell the story?’”
If you’re picturing the Bay Area hype machine, you’re not wrong. Scott’s worked in Atlanta, where e-commerce founders literally built a media layer just to spotlight themselves. Because in San Francisco and New York, the founders who get the next round or the big exit become “micro-famous” — and fame, however niche, is currency.
Omaha? We’ve got the opposite problem. We’ve been told since birth that bragging is tacky. You let your work speak for itself. Except — and Scott’s very clear on this — in startups, silence is not a strategy.
“It’s like a tree falling in the forest,” he said. “Did it really fall if no one heard it?”
Local Momentum Meets Media Strategy
Turns out, Scott’s not just thinking this — he’s seeing it in action.
Omaha’s ecosystem is trending upward: LinkedIn recently ranked Omaha as a top 10 fastest-growing U.S. metros for jobs and new talent, gaining ground in “startup momentum” and impressive “big companies” presence for its size (Silicon Prairie News).
But reality check time: A recent “Silicon Prairie Rising” report revealed Omaha (and Nebraska overall) ranks 49th out of 50 states in startup survival, and the ecosystem remains scattered with no central convener to unify efforts (Silicon Prairie News).
We’ve got the talent, the companies, the cost advantages. We just haven’t told that story well enough — yet.
Scott Henderson speaking on a panel at Piece by Piece, an Investor Summit May 2024. Mike Machian
RA Founder’s Strategy (Not Flaunt)
Let me give you the prototype-in-practice example Scott shared:
One founder came to NMotion with thermographic imaging tech for utility lines. Scott told him: land one pilot customer — then another. Once he had five, drip the progress strategically. Not “TA-DAH LOOK AT ME,” but “See that? Real. Happening.”
“Be smart with dripping out the progress,” Scott said. “Make it look like, holy s@!t, he’s knocking them down, setting them up, knocking them down.”
That slow drip did two things: it kept the founder top-of-mind with potential customers and built credibility with investors. By the time he raised $1 million, local startup news was more than ready to cover him.
Scott calls it content arbitrage — creating updates that are journalist-friendly and timely — so local media, hungry for good stories, can pick them up. Suddenly, you’re the “go-to” founder.
Scott Henderson presenting at the NMotion Showcase during the 2024 Silicon Prairie Startup Week. Ben Goeser/Silicon Prairie News
Beyond the “Crushing It” Post
Scott’s not suggesting everyone become a LinkedIn guru posting #hustle100.
“We’ve got to stop having folks… living the life of ‘everything’s awesome,’” he told me. “You have to have this balance of substance, of progress made, and that you’re learning stuff.”
It’s gritty, real, meaningful progress — shared intentionally with the right timing and audience.
Another NMotion company went from $7,000 to $21,000 in monthly recurring revenue over the course of a year. That’s not “unicorn” flashy, but it’s real progress, and sharing it brought more investor interest and more customer validation.
Midwestern humility is charming at a dinner party, but in a venture capital pitch, it’s just missed opportunity. Most investors don’t want to be the first to believe in you — they want to join the crowd. Your job is to create that crowd.
What Makes Omaha Special
Throw in the ingredients we do have, and you get a recipe worth sharing:
- Affordability, talent, and reliability: Omaha’s cost of living, coupled with strong institutions like UNO and Creighton, offer a solid base for early-stage ventures (omahaimc.org, University of Nebraska Omaha).
- Startups and success stories like: Buildertrend, Spreetail — proof Omaha isn’t just quiet; it’s quietly crushing it.
- Media and ecosystem support: Silicon Prairie News and Flatwater Free Press (backed by the Nebraska Journalism Trust) are actively building that storytelling muscle — SPN, especially, is focused on profiles, events, and funding moves that spotlight local change-makers.
Attention Is a Skill
Which brings me to the thing Scott knows that most people don’t: attention is a skill. You can learn it. You can teach it. And if you want your startup to survive here, you should.
He rattled off tips like a man who’s seen too many great ideas die quietly: build a media kit. Time your announcements. Offer journalists easy, ready-to-publish stories. Share the messy middle — not just the ribbon-cutting.
Founders who master that? They don’t just raise money. They become the people everyone in the ecosystem knows.
And here’s the kicker: this isn’t just for founders. It’s for anyone who wants to see Omaha’s startup scene grow beyond the “best kept secret” stage. We need more stories, more visibility, more proof that innovation is happening here — and yes, a little more hype.
So, people might think the Omaha startup community is too small, too modest, too “flyover” to play in the big leagues. Scott knows otherwise.
“Founders who are very, very well-versed in how to tell stories and share content are the ones who create the attention,” he told me. “And attention is what takes them to the next level.”
Scott Henderson at Piece by Piece, and Investor Summit May 2024. Mike Machian
This is the first in a series where I’ll be interviewing Omaha’s startup and entrepreneurial leaders to find out what they really think about what’s happening here. If you’ve got a hot take — and you’re brave enough to share it — my inbox is open.
